WHO SHOULD HOST THE OSCARS?

WHOOPI-DO: There's a changing of the guard at the old-guard award show, the Oscars. After a number of years as host, Billy Crystal is letting someone else hand out the heavy metal -- "Comic Relief" colleague Whoopi Goldberg.

Among top TV and film comedians, Ms. Goldberg comes off as the near-perfect host in People Pop Profiles when respondents were asked, "Would you attend or watch an event featuring this person?"

Ms. Goldberg was golden, rating higher than Mr. Crystal had.

Though not on par, Rosie O'Donnell and Jerry Seinfeld would be pretty good contenders as well. Now retired from a number of venues, Mr. Seinfeld has a lot of time on his hands and could be a future choice. Already prepping for more awards-hosting stints, Ms. O'Donnell showed off her stand-up comedy roots as master of ceremonies at the recent Grammy broadcast.

Late-night TV hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman came in behind other stars as potential hosts. Mr. Letterman, of course, hosted the Oscars some years back to